There are plenty of other places that aren't on fire. Atlas is the one with the water to put the fire out. Unless they open up the valves to provide the water, we hit the fire escape and walk to the nearest building that has a better sprinkler system.

We could care less what Atlas looks like after it is burned to the ground. All we have to lose is a couple of years of seniority. Flynn will lose his company.

... how's that for analogy carry through ... ???

8

Just a line pilot here...

I am simply stating- it takes two sides to get a deal done. The union has drawn there line with the strike vote- the CO with their - "merger" so... Why don't we all just figure out a way to make this work...one side can't simply stomp their feet and state- this is what I deserve- it doesn't and has never worked that way.

When it's this far out of whack (management thinks we should amalgamate with a bankrupt contract when we are paid 40% LESS than industry standard) then yes, we should stand our ground and stomp on their heads. We must. A majority of Fedex F/O's make more than our Captains, same goes for UPS, Delta too. We are on the side of the facts, the entire industry, the majority, and truth. Kum-bay-a is not going to work with these people.

Okay, I get it, you're one of the very high seniority guys on the whale, or one that drinks the company Kool-Aid...either way, we've carried this outfit long enough on our backs. How long is it going to take before you (and those like you) realize where the industry is vs where our pilot group is in terms of .... use any metric you want in the blank spaces (pay rates, work rules, retirement, time off, vacation, etc etc etc).

You have a chance to voice your opinion until noon tomorrow. I hope you take it and vote in favor of strike authorization...that is one tool that our union leaders and the NC can use to get us to industry standard terms and conditions.

boeingdvr is absolutely correct.

It takes two sides to get a deal done. However, it was the ATLAS negotiating team who no-showed at the negotiating sessions forcing us to file for arbitration to bring them to the table. Prior to Atlas refusing to appear, the only "negotiation proposals" they brought forth were involved NO change from the current contract! They simply cut and pasted sections straight out of our current CBA. THAT is not a negotiation. THAT is an insulting waste of our valuable time and a blatant delay tactic postponing any additional costs to the company and postponing any pay raises for us. It's a WIN-LOSE situation and they're going to play that hand for years if they can.

It's pretty difficult to figure out how to make things work when the other guy won't even show up to talk.

8

Amazon
 

So just saw the post about the Amazon flying. You figure they will need how many for 20 planes, average 9 pilots per plane? So 180 to start flying 2nd term 2016 and up to 2017 was it for implementation? So when would the next class start if they are taking May off? I'm kind of hoping to be in that one but would looooooove the heads up!

Arbitration and Mediation are vastly different animals. Do some reading.

Not arbitration... Mediation. Arbitration is what we are trying to avoid.

I would double your number on the low end. Up to 500 on the high end. It really depends on monthly block hours, not so much on the number of airplanes.

Staffing model at Atlas is approx. 25 pilots per frame.

However, the twenty jets for Amazon will arrive (from a pie in the sky source!!) in stages, not all at once, and certainly not all by the end of this year. So, as much as I'd like to see our very qualified FOs get in the Left seat ASAP, it's not gonna happen overnight.

And to add, the ALSO want to expand the 777 and grow the 737 for the -800freighter and VIP Charters. Where are these bodies going to come from?

The bodies won't be coming from anywhere. Management will blame us when they can't staff the operation. They will blame the union and try everything to divide the group, maybe start another certificate to threaten us, anything. I will put nothing past them.

Atlas Crew Members,

The voting period for the Strike Authorization Vote for Atlas Air crew members closed today at 12:00 noon EDT. Following are the results of the membership vote:

YES: 1,115 (99.6% of voting members)
NO: 4

Total Ballots: 1,119
Total Electorate: 1,204
Percentage Voted: 92.94%

The Strike Authorization Vote passed a membership vote by an overwhelming margin. This vote authorizes the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to call a strike against Atlas Air in the event it becomes necessary.

Fraternally,

Tim Jewell
Secretary Treasurer
APA Teamsters Local 1224

Good point, I guess it's not taking into account planes set aside for reserve and the ones in mx as well. Depends on how many Amazon Prime members REALLY want their yoga balls......

IMO - the company made a huge mistake not getting a deal done before this Amazon announcement. It further powers the pilot group.

The MBA brain trust in Purchase are just going to their one and only play book, to be fair it worked well for them in a different time and in a very different climate. Those here long enough have been down the road of AABO, AACS and GSS and lived through furloughs and threats of furlough during the Polar/Atlas amalgamation. The stooges in Purchase really think will will fold like a cheap suit to get our hands on a bunch of 767's, send them to FW for all I care. I would rather be a First Officer with a solid contract than a Captain under the POS one they would see me have.

Did the Union know this deal was in the works? If they did then NDA's would have been signed and a component of the SEC regulations and not much could have been done.

Wrong choice of words. Thanks for the correction.

No need to get snippy Whale Driver. We're all on the same team, you know.

sheesh ...

Can you clarify please? I'm not sure what you're implying here.

I'd like to know if Amazon knows the state of labor/mgt relations.

No, I'm sure they entered into multi-million, perhaps billion dollar contracts with at least two airline holding groups and who knows how many dozens of other venders without thorough due diliigence...

Anybody heard about calls going out for interviews soon? I wasn't able to go in March so I was put on the wait list for the next round. Keep hearing June but no call yet.

They did their "thorough due diligence", yet they signed anyway :rolleyes:

You don't think that Atlas painted a rosy picture to Amazon?

There is a difference between what is published in industry publications, what Atlas tells Amazon and the reality of the actual state of affairs. Not to mention, Amazon has little experience in dealing with labor groups.

That's okay, Atlas has very little experience in dealing with labor groups as well...not showing up for negotiations, not negotiating in good faith, not understanding the status of the industry and our role in it, etc exemplifies the union-busting tactics they use. Just like Wal-Mart, Amazon, and many other companies in corporate America. And sorry to say, but all the government agencies that are supposed to help mediate disputes are nothing more than puppets for our corporate executives since those very mediators in many cases came from their ranks.

If they paid the new hires at FL West a LOT more than they're paying Atlas pilots, they could staff it. The Pilot Shortage is still in it's infancy, and it is already affecting the entire industry. Can't give a crappy carrier new aircraft...have to have the pilots to fly them!

Atlas will need to improve the current contract drastically to man all these airplanes they are wanting to fly.

PS-Delta just announced they are having problems staffing their MD-88s and 717s, as they are having a lot of new hires leaving for other airlines!!!

Cliff, there is not yet a pilot shortage. At the piece of crap 1 1/2 airplane overseas outfit where I work are 4 Americans who would love to come back to the US. Problem is we are all late forties and older, 3 are captains, I am an f/o. The captains don't want to start out again as a first officer. All of us are trying to get some form of retirement income and as an f/o at any US airline that will be impossible. Same goes for many other US captains flying at foreign airlines.
Once you pass a certain age (around 45-50) and your company bites the dust there are not many options in the US, going overseas is the only way. I know many US pilots working in the Middle East and Asia, most of them would love to come back. A 12000 hr B744 captain I know just went to a regional so he could be home more.
I have been applying at Atlas for ages. I finally have had 2 phone interviews. The first one I had not flown in a while, so I was advised to get some hours and try a year later, then I had worked for too many companies. Yes, my resume looks like a graveyard of failed airlines. Flown widebody for 12 years, the whale for 4 years now, been all over the globe, dodged the bullet in Afghanistan. And can't even get an interview.

Atlas would be perfect for me. I live where there is a base, a 15 minute ride to work. My family can deal with me being gone for 3 weeks, which is half of what I do now for less time off. I would be happy, wife and kids be happy --> Atlas be happy. I would stay until I retire.

Calls are going out for middle of June interviews. If you haven't heard anything soon, I would suggest a friendly email reminder.

I heard calls are going out for middle of June MIA interviews.

FW has one airplane and 25-ish pilots. How exactly would they staff more than, say, one more airplane? You think the FAA would make every pilot on property a check airman to handle a massive expansion?

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/delta/94926-new-hire-resignations-impacting-operation.html

Has anyone from the March 22-24 interviews heard anything about a class date yet? Still swimming in the pool.

Keep plugging away Overcast.....this will get sorted out eventually and they will need you. Some on here have been rescued from dark places with a job offer from Atlas:):)

Not a peep...

Thanks. I'll start trying to shake the tree again.

Nothing yet, but really want to hear something very soon.

My friend in the training department says they are still pretty saturated. I'm sure once they start the new hire process again it will really crank up. And we'll see more activity coming through the forums again.

Interviews are being scheduled for the middle of June right now. No word on when exactly new hire classes resume.

Considering the saturated training department and the slow down, would an application that went in today be potentially overlooked? Do they have enough on their plate to ignore apps being submitted now-ish? Curious about timing. I'd really like to apply, but I don't want my app to just get buried during this back-up.

There's no slow down. We are simply flying our CBA, practicing safe operating procedures and refusing to do other people's jobs for them. If things "slow down", it is a byproduct of Purchase's own lack of organization and structure.